Handle assembly



Aug. 16, 1955 A. .1. KOLL HANDLE ASSEMBLY Filed Jun 1 53 VENTOR Mr J 0 4 ATTORNEY United States Patent HANDLE ASSEMBLY Andrew J. Koll, Baltimore, Md., assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Baltimore, Md., a corporation of Delaware Application June 1, 1953, Serial No. 358,742

2 Claims. (11. 16126) This invention relates to improvements in a handle assembly.

Among the more important objects of the present invention is the provision of a lightweight, sturdy, substantially rattle-proof handle assembly, having simple and effective means to normally hold the hand-grasp against its supporting plate, all of which makes the assembly ideally suited for a wide variety of applicatrons.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent upon reference to the detailed specification set forth below when taken in conjunction with the drawings annexed hereto, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of the improved handle assembly;

Figure 2 is a back view of the assembly shown in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines 33 in Figure 2; and

Figure 4 is an end view of the assembly shown in Figure 1.

The improved handle assembly comprises a bracket plate 5, having a centrally disposed transverse, openended channel 6. The plate 5 and its associated channel 6 provide the supporting means for a hand-grasp, generally indicated at 7, having a crossbar 8 and side arms 911. The ends of the side arms 9-11 are inturned, as at 12--13, to project inwardly into the open ends of the channel 6, so that the hand-grasp 7 is properly supported by the plate 5.

The ends of the channel, 1415, have their depth and width reduced over the depth and width of the middle portion of the channel 6, and the reduced ends are so dimensioned that the inturned ends 12-13 of the hand-grasp 7 are securely accommodated thereby,

the surrounding portions of the reduced ends providing partial bearing surfaces for the inturned ends of the hand-grasp.

To complement the partial bearing surfaces provided by the reduced ends of the channel, a pair of tabs 16-17 are punched out of the plate 5 and bent rearwardly away from their point of connection to the plate 5 to partially surround the inturned ends 12-13 and provide another partial bearing surface therefor. The partial bearing surface provided by the tabs 1617 complements the partial bearing surface provided by the reduced ends 1415 to give a substantially complete bearing surface for the hand-grasp 7, thereby providing a snug retaining assembly for the inturned ends of the hand-grasp, so dimensioned that pivotal motion of the hand-grasp is permitted when required.

In the embodiment shown, the points of connection of the tabs lie in corresponding sections of the side walls of the reduced ends of the channel 6.

The inturned ends 1213 of the side arms 911 project into the recess provided by the enlarged middle portion of the channel 6, at a distance beyond the reduced recess provided by the reduced ends 1415 of 2,715,243 Patented Aug. 16, 1955 said channel, to accommodate the ends of the coiled tension spring 18 which overlie the inturned ends 12-13 and extend therebetween. One of the inturned ends may be transversely slotted at 19 to retain one end 21 of the spring 18. The other end 22 of the spring abuts the underside of the plate 5. The spring normally biases the hand-grasp downwardly against the plate 5 so that when the handle is not in use the handgrasp is conveniently held flat against the surface to which the handle assembly is afiixed.

An important advantage resulting from the channel and tab arrangement is that the hand grasp 7 may be initially fabricated as a separate unit and the spring 18 connected thereto, whereupon these parts may be assembled to the bracket plate simply by disposing the ends 12 and 13 of the hand grasp and interposed spring '18 in the channel or recess 6. The tabs 16 and 17 may then be punched out of the plate over the said ends of the handle, retaining the latter in its assembled position. It will be obvious that this feature materially simplifies fabrication of the handle assembly as a whole, since it obviates the necessity of any fabricating operation whatsoever on the hand grasp once it is disposed in assembled relation with the bracket plate 5.

To give proper clearance for the portions of the side arms 911 just outside of the reduced ends 1415 of the channel 6, the plate 5 is cut away, as at 23-24.

To provide a stop, limiting pivotal motion of the hand-grasp 7, the channel 6 has the lateral extensions 2526 projecting beyond the reduced ends 14-15, the extensions being formed substantially at right angles to the plate 5 and being provided with the reinforcing ribs 2728. Thus, whenever the handle is in use it can be pulled upwardly until the side arms 911 contact the extensions 2526. When the hand-grasp is released, the spring 18 snaps the hand-grasp downwardly against the surface to which the plate is aflixed.

A series of apertures 29 may be conveniently provided in the plate 5 to permit alfixation of the plate to any surface by means of screws, nuts and bolts, or the like.

To provide a lightweight, and yet sturdy, assembly, the plate 5 is fabricated from a suitable gauge of alumirim and is formed from a single sheet of stock. The side arms of the hand-grasp may be of stainless steel to give the necessary strength to this portion of the assembly, and the crossbar 8 may be in the form of an aluminum sleeve surrounding the continuation of the stainless steel side arm members.

All of the parts thus described can be properly treated so that the assembly is substantially corrosion-proof.

The manner of forming the bearing surfaces for the hand-grasp 7 and the use of the spring 18 makes the handle assembly substantially rattle-proof for all normal shock and vibration, and this feature has been found to be highly desirable for many applications and uses of the improved assembly.

Altogether, an improved assembly is provided, one that is easily fabricated by simple sheet metal fabrication techniques, and one that can be assembled readily without any complicated tooling, the end result being a lightweight, sturdy, substantially rattle-proof and corrosion-proof unit. Furthermore, the handle assembly has a snap-back feature in that a strong spring is used to normally hold the hand-grasp flat against the surface to which the assembly as afiixed. It will also be noted that the plate 5, with the exception of that portion thereof which is deformed to provide the channel 6, is flat on both sides, and that when the hand grasp springs back to its position of non-use, both the plate and hand grasp lie in substantially the same plane r 3 What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. An improved handle assembly comprising, in combination, an integral bracket plate shaped from a deformable metal blank having along the central portion tween the free ends of said side arms and having one of its ends anchored to one of said, side arm ends and the other of its ends engaging said plate, said channel extremities being reduced in width and depth with respect to the intermediate portion of the channel to provide bearing surfaces for the inturned ends of said arms the reduced extremities of the channel being open to the inner side of the plate for a width greater than the outside diameter of said inturned ends of said side arms and the intermediate portion of said channel being open to the inner side of said plate for a width greater than the outside diameter of said spring to enable the hand grasp to be pre-shaped and together with the spring assembled to the plate by insertion in the channel from the inner side of said plate without bending or deforming the hand grasp, and a pair of tabs punched out of the plate adjacent the'reduced extremities of said channel and bent over said side arm extremities to complement said first-named bearing surfaces and retain the hand grasp and spring against displacement with respect to the plate.

2. A handle assembly 'as claimed in claim 1, wherein corresponding portions of said bracket plate are cut away on one side of said channel adjacent the said bearing extremities to provide clearance for those portions of the side arms not enclosed by said channel immediately adjacent said cut-away portions, and the metal at the opposite open ends of said channel is shaped to provide stops which limit pivotal movement of the hand grasp when the latter is'in operative lifting and carrying position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

